978-1-63146-598-7.Pdf

Someone once introduced President Jimmy Carter as a man who used the White House as a stepping-stone to do great things with his life. Stu G has done the same, using his career as an award-winning rock star as a stepping-stone to do great things with his life. There’s no message more important for the contemporary world than the words of Jesus, the “red letters” in the Bible. Stu dives into the heart of those red letters in this book on the Beatitudes. I know that his words will move the world just as his music has. I’m honored to call him a friend. SHANE CLAIBORNE Author, activist, and recovering sinner One Sunday night this fall, Stu sat in our kitchen, and instead of playing his own songs, he played songs from men and women he had befriended in his travels. Instead of telling his own stories, he told the stories of people who’d been abused, forgotten, marginalized. Stu is a man who is using his voice to lift people up, who is using his talent to draw out the talent of others, who is using his influence to tell a story of hope. This book is story after story of hope, and I can’t think of a more timely message or a more generous and wise messenger. SHAUNA NIEQUIST New York Times bestselling author In Words from the Hill we have Stu G’s unique exploration and application of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. It’s a reflective, disruptive memoir, beautiful and quietly incendiary—a book well written by a life well lived. PETE GREIG Author of Dirty Glory: Go Where Your Best Prayers Take You and founder of 24-7 Prayer I’ve loved watching Stu explore the Beatitudes in the writing of this book, making friends and discovering their stories along the way. Stu’s honesty and compassion have helped me hear these well-known words of Jesus in a whole new light—as announcements of kindness, mercy, peace, and his presence for us all. You will love it! AMY GRANT Singer, songwriter, and author of Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far Stu G has successfully penned a book on the Beatitudes that is teeming with wisdom, heart, and practical insights. Never has the world felt more riven and ready for this fresh take on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are those who read this divinely timed book. IAN MORGAN CRON Bestselling author of Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale and The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Think you know all you need to know about the Beatitudes? Think again. Enter this book with holy curiosity, and you’ll discover stories that will change your life—stories of ordinary people who chose to “collude with the power of love” and experienced the blessed presence of God in ways they never imagined. I love this book! LYNNE HYBELS Advocate for Global Engagement, Willow Creek Community Church, and author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World For a brokenhearted world comes the unexpected, upside-down announcement that God is on your side, writes Stu G in this remarkable manifesto of hope. Words from the Hill offers life-saving food for starving people. Here is the good news that Stu carves onto every page: God is always available to us and is fully present in the ache, the lack, the “not- yet-ness” of life. STEVE WIENS Author of Beginnings: The First Seven Days of the Rest of Your Life Stu’s honest and poetic voice gives new life to some of the oldest truths in the world. I am grateful that he has used his gifts to promote love’s healing power through the lenses of the Beatitudes. His book teaches us how to walk more gracefully in this harsh world. BECCA STEVENS Founder and president of Thistle Farms and 2016 CNN Hero With clarity and compassion, Stu takes us on a journey into God’s upside-down world. Don’t read this unless you are ready to be wrecked for everything God loves. GABE LYONS Author of Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme with David Kinnaman and founder of Q Ideas When Jesus spoke the eight simple lines that we call the Beatitudes, he offered his listeners an alternate way to look at life, a different way to experience God. Stu Garrard invites us into a beautifully written, unfolding story to explore this unexpected way of living with God. He introduces us to people from the bright lights of the rich and famous to the shadows of death row who have each encountered this surprising transformation. I highly recommend Words from the Hill for those ready to join this journey. TIM DAY Author of God Enters Stage Left Stu G writes like he plays. He weaves the new with the old, the passionate with the vulnerable. Words from the Hill is an honest, beautiful book from a man who paints with his fingers the stories that his heart perceives. CRAIG BORLASE Author of Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus: The Real Story of God at Work with Charles Morris, 10,000 Reasons: Stories of Faith, Hope, and Thankfulness Inspired by the Worship Anthem with Matt Redman, and Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart with Dion Leonard I can think of no one better to craft a story as in-depth as this one. Mark and I have known and loved Stu G and his family for many years. His approach to life has always been thought-provoking, creative, and generous, with a hunger for truth and a passion to continually communicate the pure gospel through the arts. Here he explores the Beatitudes in all their depth and raw truth. I know this book and these songs will challenge and inspire you to find the unexpected blessings in the announcements of Jesus. DARLENE ZSCHECH Worship leader and singer-songwriter Of all of Christ’s teachings, few feel as timely and desperately needed today as the Beatitudes. Stu G has been courageously immersing himself in this deep stream for years. With keen insights, fresh language, heart- stretching stories, and the stunning melodies of an accompanying album, Words from the Hill is a unique and uniquely important invitation into the Way of Jesus. AARON NIEQUIST Worship leader and curator of The Practice and A New Liturgy In Words from the Hill: An Invitation to the Unexpected, Stu Garrard captures the surprising and challenging call of the Beatitudes. Through inspiring artistry and compelling storytelling, Stu brings fresh eyes to this ancient text. What is particularly apparent is that Stu’s own heart has been awakened to the beauty and confrontation of the words of Jesus. As highly involved members of our church, Stu and Karen continue to wrestle with what it means to live out these words right where they live. For years, Stu’s friends have been telling him to write a book. Read this and find out why. DARREN WHITEHEAD Senior pastor of Church of the City and author of Rumors of God with Jon Tyson Words from the Hill An Invitation to the Unexpected stu garrard [Typesetting: Please insert the standard NavPress title-page logo and tagline.] [NavPress logo with ® mark] an invitation to the unexpected A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. ® NavPress is the publishing ministry of The Navigators, an international Christian organization and leader in personal spiritual development. NavPress is committed to helping people grow spiritually and enjoy lives of meaning and hope through personal and group resources that are biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical. For more information, visit www.NavPress.com. Words from the Hill: An Invitation to the Unexpected Copyright © 2017 by Stu Garrard. All rights reserved. A NavPress resource published in alliance with Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. NAVPRESS and the NAVPRESS logo are registered trademarks of NavPress, The Navigators, Colorado Springs, CO. TYNDALE is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Absence of ® in connection with marks of NavPress or other parties does not indicate an absence of registration of those marks. The Team: Don Pape, Publisher Caitlyn Carlson, Acquisitions Editor Julie Chen, Designer Cover illustration of hill by Julie Chen. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Hand lettering by Stu Garrard Author photo by David Bean at visualreserve.com, copyright © 2016. All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,® NIV.® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at [email protected] or call 800-323-9400. Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN 978-1-63146-598-7 Printed in the United States of America 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Acknowledgments xi INTRO: OF LIFE’S UNEXPECTED PLACES xv CHAPTER 1: POOR IN SPIRIT—WHAT YOU FIND AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE 1 CHAPTER 2: MOURN—THE GRIEF OF CHANGE 23 CHAPTER 3: MEEK—WHEN PRESENCE IS IGNORED 39 CHAPTER 4: HUNGER AND THIRST—BLESSING OR REQUIREMENT? 73 CHAPTER 5: MERCY—GETTING CAUGHT IN THE RAIN 95 CHAPTER 6: PURE IN HEART—THE WONDER OF IT ALL 125 CHAPTER 7: PEACEMAKERS—LIVING IN THE CONTESTED SPACE 145 CHAPTER 8: PERSECUTED—HOLY TROUBLEMAKERS 173 OUTRO: THE VIEW FROM UP HERE 205 Engage 213 Notes 215 INTRO OF LIFE’S UNEXPECTED PLACES 3:15 A.M.

Load more